Walk of Fame with S.F. twist

CITY INSIDER

Hollywood - famous locale that it is - has a walk of fame filled with A-list celebrities: Julia Roberts, Paula Abdul and Herb Alpert, to name a few.

San Francisco - famous locale that it is - wants to take that idea and put its own spin on it.

A group of Castro district residents and merchants have, after much consternation, chosen the first 20 names of San Francisco's Rainbow Honor Walk, a proposed blocks-long collection of influential gays and lesbians whose names will be displayed in much the same way the stars of Hollywood are.

However, one of the city's most famous residents - Harvey Milk - failed to win a spot of honor this time around.

"Putting the names, in a public way, on the sidewalk, one after the other after the other, will show our culture is much more than that," said Isak Lindenauer, co-chair of the project.

The walk could run along Market Street from Octavia Boulevard to Castro Street and down Castro to 19th Street, and eventually feature hundreds of names, said David Perry, another chair.

After much debate, the committee narrowed the first 20 names to a pool of people who were openly gay but are now deceased. They include Allen Ginsberg, Frida Kahlo, Oscar Wilde and Sylvester James, a noted disco star.

But Perry and Lindenauer say leaving Milk off the list was a conscious decision.

"If we can only do 20 to begin with, let's not choose a person who already has two, three, four things named for him. Let's honor people who haven't," Lindenauer said, pointing to a list of things in San Francisco honoring Harvey Milk.

"This walk should focus on some of the unsung heroes," Perry said.

The plaques could be approved by the Civic Arts Commission in the coming months and could be installed by the end of the year, Perry said.

- Will Kane

This week's news

Wednesday: The Police Commission will discuss how officers handle the mentally ill at its 5:30 p.m. meeting at City Hall.

Thursday: The Planning Commission will review the environmental impact report for Parkmerced at a 3:30 p.m. hearing at City Hall.